Sumo: Onosato becomes yokozuna at record pace after 13 tournaments
Onosato was promoted to sumo's highest rank of yokozuna on Wednesday, attaining the honor at a record pace after competing in just 13 professional tournaments.
The 24-year-old from Ishikawa Prefecture became the 75th yokozuna and the first Japanese-born grand champion since his stablemaster Nishonoseki, who wrestled as Kisenosato and won his promotion after the New Year meet in 2017.
"I'll devote myself to training in order not to bring the rank of yokozuna into disrepute, and aim for a one-of-a-kind yokozuna," Onosato said during a promotion ceremony at his Nishonoseki stable in Ami, Ibaraki Prefecture.
Onosato ensured his promotion by winning the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament with two days to spare on Friday, achieving the required benchmark of back-to-back championships as an ozeki, the second-highest rank.
The Japan Sumo Association officially approved Onosato's elevation at an extraordinary board meeting on Wednesday.
The previous record holder under the six-tournament calendar introduced in 1958 was the late Wajima, another Ishikawa native, who secured promotion after his 21st meet in May 1973.
Onosato joins 14-time winner Wajima as the only wrestler to become a grand champion after entering the professional ranks from university.
The imposing 192-centimeter, 191-kilogram star, who excels both with his pushing and grappling techniques, has won four Emperor's Cups having claimed his first last May.
"Since entering professional sumo, I've always thought the rank of yokozuna is something I'd absolutely aim for. I'm happy to have achieved it," Onosato said. "I think what I do from here is important."
He was happy with his choice of words after receiving the news from sumo association messengers.
"I thought there was no better phrase. I didn't get nervous and managed to say it commandingly," Onosato said. "I wasn't planning to include (one-of-a-kind) originally but then felt it was the perfect fit."
He is set to forge a rivalry with Mongolian yokozuna Hoshoryu, who reached the rank after January's New Year meet. They will go head-to-head as yokozuna for the first time at July's Nagoya meet at the newly built IG Arena.
Two wrestlers have been promoted to yokozuna in the same year for the first time since 1987 when Hokutoumi and Onokuni rose to the top.
"I hope he carves out a new era," said Hokutoumi, who now goes by Hakkaku and is the current JSA president.
With the sport set to hold an exhibition tour of London in October, Hakkaku said having two grand champions is a timely boost. "It's a good thing. It's not something that happens even if the association hopes for it."
Onosato needed nine tournaments to reach the exalted rank since making his top-tier makuuchi division debut, setting another milestone as he eclipsed the previous record of 11 meets by 32-time Emperor's Cup-winning icon Taiho.
Onosato is the first wrestler to turn yokozuna without a single losing record.
"I hope he leads by example and lifts the entire world of sumo," said Nishonoseki. "It's important to be strong, but I hope he becomes a role model for other wrestlers. I hope he wrestles while being aware (of a yokozuna's responsibilities)."
"He's still developing. He's been building his body properly since entering the stable, making steady efforts. Training does not lie."
Onosato made his professional debut as No. 10 in the third-tier makushita division in May 2023, a head start granted to those with strong amateur records.
He reached ozeki also at a record clip, earning promotion after last September's Autumn meet, his ninth as a professional. His meteoric rise saw him achieve the rank with hair still too short for the "oicho" hairstyle, named after the ginkgo leaf, worn by makuuchi and second-tier juryo wrestlers.
The last Japanese wrestler to rise to yokozuna in his early 20s was Takanohana, who was 22 when he was promoted after the November 1994 Kyushu meet.
"He's always smiling when he comes here. I hope he stays the way he is -- someone loved and supported by everyone," said 50-year-old Keisuke Koyama, who runs a sushi restaurant in the new yokozuna's hometown of Tsubata.
Onosato said he was "able to deliver good news" with his promotion and promised to continue "energizing Ishikawa and Noto" peninsula, devastated by an earthquake on Jan. 1, 2024.
Related coverage:
Sumo: Onosato lifts trophy with 14-1 record after loss to Hoshoryu
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Asahi Shimbun
a day ago
- Asahi Shimbun
NFL cheerleader-turned chef is stirring up U.S. restaurant scene
Four years after swapping her pompoms for a chef's knife, Masako Morishita earned one of the most prestigious accolades in American dining: a James Beard Foundation Award. In 2024 she was honored in the Emerging Chef category, winning what amounts to an Academy Award of cooking. Born and raised in Kobe, Morishita's journey was anything but conventional. As a teenager studying abroad in the United States, she discovered cheerleading for the first time. Enthralled by the energy and athleticism it requires, she returned to Japan determined to master the sport. She spent more than a decade in grueling training. After multiple auditions, Morishita achieved her dream when in 2013 she earned a spot on the cheerleading squad for Washington's NFL team–now known as the Commanders. By her fifth season she had made history as the team's first overseas-born captain. When she eventually hung up her uniform, Morishita poured that same relentless energy into a new passion: food. She brought Japanese comfort cuisine to Washington, D.C., by hosting pop-ups in vacant storefronts and serving dishes like fragrant curry and pork shabu-shabu, a popular hot pot featuring paper-thin slices of premium pork. As her reputation grew, a local wine bar invited her to put her talents on a larger stage. About three years ago Morishita took a job at a Japanese restaurant, but she found the work creatively stifling. The kitchen operated on a rigid menu and relied on frozen "shumai" dumplings. She persuaded the owner to let her introduce down-home Japanese dishes with an imaginative twist. Diners loved them. Morishita's breakout creation, miso butter clams, drew inspiration from a childhood memory of her father topping a bowl of rice with miso soup and a small pat of butter, letting the flavors melt together in comforting simplicity. Remarkably, Morishita never went to culinary school. Her secret weapon, she says, is her finely honed palate that developed when she grew up in Kobe. Her family ran a sake shop with a lively standing bar. Morishita's unusual journey, blending elite athletics, entrepreneurial grit and culinary creativity, has put her in the U.S. media. The State Department tasked her with preparing a luncheon during an official visit by former Prime Minister Fumio Kishida to Washington. Moreover, Morishita is still a rarity among American restaurateurs: female and an immigrant in a field dominated by men. She sees that uniqueness as a strength, using her visibility to challenge stereotypes about Japanese cuisine and to champion what she calls 'cultural diplomacy through food.' From the grassroots up, she is carving out her own path, one inventive dish at a time.
Japan Today
a day ago
- Japan Today
Javelin star Kitaguchi finds new home in small Czech town
By Jan FLEMR Reigning Olympic and world javelin champion Haruka Kitaguchi has found a new home in a remote corner of the Czech Republic, a country that is home to several javelin legends. The 27-year-old Japanese is getting ready for next month's world championships in Tokyo in the western Czech town of Domazlice. "I can concentrate on training here. And the weather is better than in Tokyo which is too hot for me," Kitaguchi told AFP at the local training center -- on a scorching hot Czech summer day. She ended up in the cosy historic town after teaming up with local coach David Sekerak at a training seminar in Finland in 2018. Former javelin thrower Sekerak knew that she had won the world youth championships in 2015. "She was a big woman and I could see she had something in her," he added, hailing her self-discipline. Kitaguchi followed him to the country of three-time Olympic javelin champion Jan Zelezny and two-time Olympic winner Barbora Spotakova. "When I came for the first time, my coach said, today you can throw with my friend," Kitaguchi said. "I went with him, and there was Barbora Spotakova. It was a good experience as she is my idol," Kitaguchi told AFP. Sekerak has since led her to the 2023 world title and the 2024 Olympic crown, together with two Diamond League titles. Mixing English and Czech, Kitaguchi said she appreciated "a good balance" in Sekerak's training. "He also finds a way... for me to throw far. And every competition he stands behind me, supporting me. It's great mental aid," she added. A lover of Czech beer and heavy meals like goulash or dumplings in cream sauce, Kitaguchi said she had taken Czech lessons during the pandemic. "But they only taught me to say 'I have a pen'. Nothing I could use in training," she said, bursting out laughing. Her tinkling laughter can be heard even as she jogs and stretches alongside her Czech training partner Petra Sicakova, the javelin silver medalist from this year's European under-23 championships. "My mum said when you train hard, it helps to smile. It's good for good training and good results, she said. So I do that," Kitaguchi said. When she competed at the Paris Olympics, a cafe in Domazlice's sprawling historic square put up a large screen for locals to cheer for their neighbor. A party followed, and city officials staged an official welcome with a local bagpipe band when Kitaguchi and Sekerak returned home. In Domazlice, Kitaguchi lives in a flat in a hotel run by her coach's wife. "I did a lot of the building work there myself," said Sekerak, who also owns a printing shop and makes his own javelins, used by his team. Kitaguchi, who has her mother, a physiotherapist and a cook with her now, has her own model called Giant Baby, which is her Instagram nickname. Kitaguchi, whose personal best is 67.38 metrers from 2023, said her dream was to beat 70 meters. "It's my target for my life," she said. Sekerak said Kitaguchi could even tackle Spotakova's world record of 72.28 meters from 2008. One condition is to drop "silly thoughts" that got into Kitaguchi's head as she was coping with fame following the two big titles, he added. "I think we wasted about a year there, but she's OK now. It helps to go for a beer and some good food and ice cream together." Ahead of the Tokyo championships starting on September 13, Kitaguchi's form is a great unknown -- she is ranked sixth worldwide this season with a best of 64.63 meters. She will compete at the Diamond League in Lausanne and Zurich in August and then fine-tune her form in Turkey before leaving for Tokyo. Sekerak said she was safer in Domazlice than in Japan where she has become the face of the championships, featuring on billboards across the country. "It's crazy," Kitaguchi chuckled, waving aside her celebrity status. "I hope I can show the best (in Tokyo) with people cheering (for) me and it's going to be a great memory for me. I'm really looking forward to it." © 2025 AFP
2 days ago
Japan's Akie Iwai Claims First LPGA Victory at Portland Classic
News from Japan Sports Aug 18, 2025 12:29 (JST) Portland, Oregon, Aug. 17 (Jiji Press)--Japanese golfer Akie Iwai captured her first LPGA tour title on Sunday at the Standard Portland Classic in the U.S. state of Oregon, finishing at 24 under par. At Columbia Edgewater Country Club, a par-72 course, the 23-year-old Japanese took the outright lead Saturday, edging the runner-up by two strokes in the third round. In Sunday's final round, Iwai sealed her maiden LPGA victory with a bogey-free 66 that included six birdies. The title, which followed her twin sister Chisato Iwai's win at the Mexico Riviera Maya Open in May, marked the first time that twin sisters have both won LPGA titles in the Americas. At the Portland Classic, Chisato finished the final round with 64 strokes, coming in third at 19 under. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
